Photo credit: Cameron McCool
Angel Olsen presents ‘Lark,’ the second single/video from her bold, yet vulnerable forthcoming album, All Mirrors, due October 4th via Jagjaguwar. In every way, All Mirrorsis “about owning up to your darkest side, finding the capacity for new love and trusting change.” No song better presents this idea than ‘Lark’ with its grand and deeply emotive lyrics and arrangements. Olsen immediately shows her singular range as she sings “Hiding out inside my head it’s me again it’s no surprise I’m on my own now // Every time I turn to you I see the past it’s all that lasts and all I know how,” backed by an 11-piece string section conducted by Jherek Bischoff, drums by Joshua Jaeger, and Ben Babbitt on guitar, bass and synth drones, which enthral and swirl into an all-encompassing dark climax.
“‘Lark’ is a song that took many years to finish. The disjointed feelings and verses of this song began to make sense as a way for me to exercise a kind of journey through grieving, a kind of personal struggle,” says Olsen. “The message of the song developed at first from an argument I once had with someone about trust and support. Later, I pulled from recurring themes in my life as a musician and as a human that dreams for a living. It’s easy to promise the world to those we love, but what about when our dreams change and values split?”
The accompanying video was filmed in North Carolina’s Asheville and Outer Banks with director Ashley Connor, who Olsen collaborated with on the video for lead single, ‘All Mirrors.’
“‘Lark’ is the cathartic release we all ask for but so rarely get, an anthem to scream on the tops of hills or in the back of a truck or just in the privacy of our own home,” says Connor. “We cried on beaches, we broke bones, got wet, rolled in the grass, danced around a fire with friends and gave each other a lot of hugs – an apt exploration of every broken heart we’ve ever had.”
In creating All Mirrors, Olsen found a new sound and voice, a blast of fury mixed with hard-won self-acceptance. Throughout, she takes an introspective deep dive towards internal destinations and revelations. Seemingly simple, cooed phrases expand into massive ideas about the inability to love and universal loneliness. And then suddenly — huge string arrangements and bellowing synth swells emerge, propelling the apocalyptic tenor. Produced by Olsen and John Congleton, All Mirrors features arrangements by Bischoff, multi-instrumentalist/
“[‘All Mirrors’ is] a more theatrical, melodramatic presentation. Her power is there, but coated in swelling synths that convey terror just on the horizon.” – The New York Times
“[All Mirrors] promises to be her farthest-reaching work yet.” – NPR Music
“‘All Mirrors’… immediately sounds bigger than anything she’s done before. Initial listens will leave you overwhelmed by the string arrangement: an ominous, heroic swell over a synthy pulse, the troubled waters that connect the song’s two parts.” – Pitchfork, Best New Track
All Mirrors Tracklist:
1. Lark
2. All Mirrors
3. Too Easy
4. New Love Cassette
5. Spring
6. What It Is
7. Impasse
8. Tonight
9. Summer
10. Endgame
11. Chance
